The Edge Awards celebrate outstanding innovation in product design and function for the design and engineering space. Edge Award winners were chosen by the readers of Laser Focus World, as well as Electronic Design, Machine Design, Microwaves & RF, Military + Aerospace Electronics, Power & Motion, and Vision Systems Design, who voted for entries from each of the categories.
You voted and this year's Leading Edge Winner is Green Cubes Technology with its 48-V Industrial Swappable Battery.
Automation and Controls
This category addresses PLC, SCADA, and networks and software used to manage control systems and data. The Winner is Nordson EFD with its PICO Nexμs Jetting System.
Honorees include:
- Rockwell Automation - Stratix® 5200 fully managed Ethernet switches
- Regal Rexnord - ModSort® Large Format System
Communication
This category addresses wireless and wired systems, modules, and software that facilitate communication between chips, modules, and systems.
The winner of this category is Morse Micro with its Wi-Fi HaLow Portfolio.
The Honorees include:
- SynaXG - AI+5G O-RAN Solution
- MediaTek - Filogic 860 and Filogic 360
Computing Hardware, Software and Systems
Edge-computing devices and interfaces, as well as the compute, storage, and communication modules and systems used to analyze data and assist design engineers, are covered by this category.
The winner is Ambarella with its N1 SoC Series.
Honorees include:
- Cincoze Co., Ltd. - DA-1200, a Rugged & Cost-effective Intel Alder Lake-N Computer
- SiFive - SiFive Performance P870 and Intelligence X390
Electronic Components & Enclosures
This category covers passive electronic components like capacitors, transistors or diodes, connectors, cables, antennas, and switches.
Editor’s Note: Leading Edge Winner Green Cubes Technology submitted under this category. See Leading Edge section above for more details.
The winner is Molex's 224G Product Portfolio.
Honorees include:
- Empower Semiconductor - EC1005P
- Phoenix Contact – TRIO POWER Third Generation
- Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. - IHPT Series Haptic Feedback Actuators with Immersion Licenses
Machine Learning/Deep Learning
Artificial intelligence and machine learning are everywhere these days. This category includes hardware and software that incorporate, or is designed to improve, product quality, supply-chain management, and production throughput.
The winner of this category is Synaptics' Astra AI-Native Edge IoT Platform.
Honorees include:
- Intel - Intel SceneScape
- Galorath Incorporated - SEERai
Machine Vision & Inspection
This category covers cameras, sensors, lenses, filters, lighting, frame grabbers, software, and systems.
The winner is Cognex's In-Sight L38.
The Honorees include:
- Lattice Semiconductor - Lattice sensAI™ solution stack.
- Theia Technologies - Theia IQ Lens™ System
Robotics & Motion Control
Robotics and motion control covers a lot of ground, technically speaking. This category address pneumatic, hydraulic, and electric motion-control components and systems including actuators, cylinders, ball screws, motors and drives, and accessories (e.g., fasteners, bearings, belts, and chains), as well as fluids, filters, and compressed air systems.
The winner is Bota Systems' PixONE.
Honorees include:
- Rockwell Automation - ArmorKinetix® Distributed Servo Drives
- Inventive Resources, Inc. - OilN2
Optical & Photonics
This category includes adaptive optics, optical materials (such as metamaterials), optical coatings, precision optics, micro-optics, lenses, mirrors, aspheres, prisms, and freeform optics. Also in the mix are lighting products for machine-vision applications.
The winner is Spectrolight's Tunable Laser System.
Honorees include
- TeraSignal - TS8401/02 intelligent 400G (4x100G) PAM4 modulator driver
- Photonics Industries International - DP50 High Pulse Energy DPSS Nanosecond Lasers